Through our consultants, researchers, clinicians, interpreters, transliterators and programs, VLA aims to apply evidence-based research to advancing the right and opportunity for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to access, process, acquire, and use visual language.
DONNA MORERE, PH.D.
Dr. Morere has been involved in research and assessment services with deaf and hard of hearing individuals for over three decades. She began learning American Sign Language in 1985 and Cued American English in 1993. She is a researcher, professor, clinician, and the parent of a deaf adult son. Her research includes the investigation of cognitive processes of deaf learners, language and neurocognitive predictors of print literacy development of deaf readers, and the adaptation and development of neuropsychological measures for use with deaf individuals. She was a co-investigator and served as the Director of Neuropsychological Assessment for the NSF-funded Science of Learning Center for Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) Psychometric Toolkit, the Early Education Longitudinal Study (EELS-I), and the Extended Education Longitudinal Study (EELS-II).
Dr. Morere has been a core faculty member in the Clinical Psychology Program at Gallaudet University since its inception in August, 1990 and has trained and supervised both deaf and hearing graduate students in research methods, psychological and neuropsychological assessment, and cognition.
In addition to her teaching and research activities, Dr. Morere offers Clinical Neuropsychology services to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing using American Sign Language, Cued American English, and oral communication. She specializes in the assessment of deaf children with complex special needs, primarily those affecting language (signed, cued, and oral) development. These include deaf children with primary language disorders, visuospatial processing deficits, and/or ADHD. She also serves deaf children with learning disabilities and other complex sets of needs, such as those with multiple sensory, physical, and/or cognitive challenges. Dr. Morere provides consultative services to schools, families, and professionals from a range of fields on the above topics. She has published and offered workshops at professional meetings, outreach conferences, and schools on neuropsychological assessment of deaf individuals, adaptation of measures for deaf individuals, reading skill development of deaf children, bilingual access to language and literacy through Cued American English and American Sign Language, the use of cueing to support language and literacy development in deaf children with and without disabilities, and the assessment and support of deaf children with and without disabilities.
Dr. Morere’s research and publications include:
Winthrop, D., Jaeger, M., Allen, T., Morere, D., & Miller, C. (2019). Identifying language delays among deaf children (Research Brief #12). Washington, DC: Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2).
Morere, D.A. (2019). Cued Speech. In J.S. Damico & M. J. Ball (Eds.) Encyclopedia of human communication sciences and disorders, pp 28 – 31. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing
Morere, D.A. (2018, May). General principles in assessment of deaf children 1: Why deaf children may need testing and who should test a deaf child? (Assessment Brief No. 1). Visual Language and Visual Learning Science of Learning Center. 4 pp. Washington, DC.
Morere, D.A & Pick, L. (2016). Psychological Evaluations and Testing. In G. Gertz, P. Boudreault, & G. Golson (Eds.) The deaf studies encyclopedia, pp 750 – 753. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
Pick, L. & Morere, D.A. (2016). Neuropsychology. In Genie Gertz, Patrick Boudreault, & Geoffery Golson (Eds.) The deaf studies encyclopedia, 715 – 720. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
Allen, T. E., Morere, D., Clark, M. D., & Murphy, L.N. (2014). The VL2 Early Education Longitudinal Study: Rationale, Methods, and Participant Characteristics. Available at http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/files/2914/1045/8608/EELS_Methods_Paper.pdf
Leigh, I., Morere, D, & Pezzarossi, C.K. (2014). Deaf Gain: Beyond Deaf Culture, In H. Dirksen Bauman & Joseph Murray (Eds.). Deaf Gain: Re-imagining Human Diversity, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 356-371.
Sligar, S.R., Cawthon, S., Morere, D.A. & Moxley, A. (2013). Equity in Assessment for Individuals who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing. Journal of the American Deafness & Rehabilitation Association (JADARA), 47 (1), 110-127.
Morere, D.A. (2013). Methodological issues associated with sign-based neuropsychological assessment. Sign Language Studies, 14(1), pp. 8-20.
Witkin, G.A., Morere, D.A. & Geer, L.D. (2013). Establishment of a phonemic clustering system for American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies, 14(1), pp. 21-38.
Morere, D.A. (2013). The Signed Verbal Learning Test: Assessing verbal memory of deaf signers. Sign Language Studies, 14(1), pp. 39-57.